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May 29, 2015 | 00:46

Blatter arrives to face moment of truth

FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrives to face the moment of truth in his bid for his fifth term in office

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived at the FIFA congress on Friday (May 29) to face the moment of truth in his bid for his fifth term in office as the world governing body holds its election amid the scandal, shame and humiliation of corruption charges.
He was shortly followed in by his only rival in the presidential election, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein and UEFA President Michel Platini.
Shame and humiliation have been brought on FIFA following the turbulent events of the last two days which included the arrest of leading soccer officials at their Zurich hotel, the world soccer body's president Sepp Blatter said on Thursday.
Blatter, making his first public appearance since Wednesday's (May 27) extraordinary events which critics said marked a new low for his federation, said there was no room "for corruption of any kind".
Seven of the most powerful figures in global football were arrested on Wednesday in a dawn raid on a luxury hotel that FIFA used to host visiting officials, and face extradition to the United States on corruption charges.
The Swiss authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
U.S. authorities said nine football officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes.

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